Please suggest a good card cell phone

The only times we would use a cell phone would be in the event of breakdown on the road or to call home to check whether we could substitute an item on a shopping list if what was written was not available. One of the phones you activate by a pre-paid phone card sounds logical because we do not care to make any contractual agreements; our use would only be occasional. We have regular phone service that meeets our daily needs. We understand there are several outfits (like Jitterbug) that provide pre-paid card service - some of which carry over unused time to new pay periods and others with different favorable incentives including area coverage. If anyone reading this has had either good or bad experiences we would appreciate your input and/or suggestions. I'm sure there are people struggling with the same problem who would also like to hear your suggestions. Thanks.

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I purchased a TracFone at WalMart, years ago, where you can also purchase the cards for a variety of "minute" denominations. (You can also purchase minutes on the computer and add them to your phone by following the directions on the screen.) The only problem that I had, was that I wasn't able to get a signal, when I traveled too far from our SC area. (Michigan, for example) I donated that TracFone to a charity, and purchased a phone (and a minutes card) from AllTel in Pineland Station. It gets a good signal, even in Michigan. (In fact, the phone was free, with a purchase of the card. I purchased a recharger, to use in the car, at an additional cost.)

Teveringham, I have a Virgin mobile phone that has worked well for me since I gave up a Hargray monthly plan a long time ago. I got the phone at Target, kept my old #, and now pay the required minimum of $20 every 90 days. The money in your account rolls over if you don't use it. Like you, I'm not a big cell user regularly, but it comes in handy at times. I text occasionally too.

"... the fundamental test of a society is how it treats the least powerful among us." --- Edward Moore Kennedy, August 1992

I've had a TracFone, purchased at Radio Shack in the Upstate, for a number of years. It has worked well in both the Upstate and the Lowcountry. I pay about $120 a year to keep it active with many more minutes than I will ever use.

My son has a VM phone that he uses only for texting. I pay $20 a month for unlimited text messages. We've always found their website and/or customer service to be very responsive and helpful. When my son drowned his phone in the toilet a couple of months ago, we were able to get a replacement (refurbished) phone for 1/2 price from VM. Haven't had a single problem with the replacement phone.

In fact, just this week, we talked LDG's son into getting a VM phone while he and his wife are here visiting for the next 6 weeks. After we got home from buying the phone, it only took about 10 minutes to go online, activate the phone and buy a $20 minute pack (200 minutes).
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It's greatly appreciated. ! would think other bloggers could well be benefiting from your input also. I had never even heard of VM before this. Guess I should try to get out more (lol) Please keep the advice coming if you've had good or bad experience with any of the prepaid outfits. It certainly looks as though that's the way we should go.

Virgin Mobile is a "virtual mobile" service -- actually just a brand name owned by Sir Richard Branson. The service is provided by one of the major network operators. In the US, Virgin Mobile runs on Sprint's network, so it's good anywhere you can get a decent Sprint signal. Sprint recently acquired the US operating company for Virgin Mobile.

Tracfone also is a virtual operator. Different phone models run on different networks, with different coverage areas, so if you travel, you need to be careful.

Target also sells T-Mobile prepaid phones (Nokia models). I have bought a couple as cheap replacements and installed my own T-Mobile SIM cards. The prepaid phones are locked to T-Mobile service, but you can use them with a conventional T-Mobile account. The Nokias are very good dual-band phones (North America only) but T-Mobile coverage around Bluffton is a bit spotty in my experience. I generally get a signal on 278 but I can't testify about the neighborhoods and it's weak in the newspaper office.

Reason I got these prepaid phones is a bit different. My kids (and to some extent my wife) are really hard on their phones, so I made a rule: If you break your phone during the term of the contract, your replacement is a crappy little basic phone without a camera, without Internet, without a fancy keyboard.

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